How to identify a Colnago Eddy Merckx

The Colnago Eddy Merckx bicycle is actually a Colnago Super with special Molteni Team orange paint, Eddy Merckx decals and a selection of high-end components. Here is a photo of the bike in an old Colnago brochure circa 1973.

Colnago Brochure circa 1973.

Who is Eddy Merckx?

Eddy Merckx is considered by many as the greatest cyclist of all time. He competed as a professional cyclist from 1961 to 1978. He recorded 525 victories throughout his career including winning all five one day ‘Monuments of Cycling’ (i.e., Milan–San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and the Giro di Lombardia). He has won all three grand tours (Giro d’Italia & Tour de France x 5 times each plus the Vuelta a Espana). He has been World Road Champion several times etc. Throughout the 1970’s, he was racing on Colnago bikes, and used a super-light (5.75kg) Colnago bike to break the one hour world record.

Features of a Colnago Eddy Merckx.

If you would like to see a real 1970’s Molteni Team bike click here. I have used photos of several replica bikes which are very close to the original. Essentially this model would have shared all the features of an early 1970’s Super. Here is help on how to identify a Colnago Super.

As for the components included with this bike, I would presume they were top of the range Campagnolo Nuovo Record. As you can see in the catalogue, the chain rings were drilled to reduce weight and the craftsmanship is beautiful.

These images show some of the features that would probably feature on the Colnago Eddy Merckx model. Images courtesy of www.vintageluxurybicycles.com

Eddy Merckx decal on down tube. Large bar engraved into the stem. This engraving in the catalogue photo is painted yellow.

Bike in the catalogue photo appears to have clamp-on shifters, these are not the same. Chrome fork crown.Gold anodized rims.

Article References.

Disclaimer!

Please remember that this information is only to be used as a guide. I consider myself an enthusiast, not an expert. The information I have presented in this article is based on my many hours of online research.

In addition, there will always be frames that don’t quite match the characteristics of a particular model as they could have been a custom build, prototype etc. Note: forks can also be swapped between different frames.

Comments.

I welcome reader feedback in the comments section. Should you wish to suggest an amendment, please include a note advising the source of your information so that myself and other readers can ascertain the accuracy of your information. Note: Trolling or argumentative comments will be removed as they are counter-productive.